Lucid Names Permanent CEO, Secures $1 Billion in Additional Funding

by Michael Strong

Published: April 15th, 2026

lucid names permanent ceo secures 1 billion in additional funding

Lucid Group’s search for a permanent CEO has finally ended with Silvio Napoli, former chief of Schindler, the Swiss elevator and escalator company, taking on the role from interim chief Marc Winterhoff, who will remain as chief operating officer.

Napoli, who spent a decade at the Swiss company, modernizing its operations, including its supply chain, is in the process of moving to the U.S. The company said Napoli’s operational expertise and financial discipline made him the top choice for the role.

“On behalf of the Board, we are pleased to welcome Silvio as Lucid’s next CEO,” said Turqi Alnowaiser, chairman of the Lucid Board of Directors, in a statement. “Silvio is a proven global leader with deep experience leading complex, technology‑driven organizations through periods of rapid growth and operational scaling. He brings a strong track record of global manufacturing excellence, operational discipline, driving growth across global markets and leading state-of-the-art customer service.”

Winterhoff took over for the company’s founder and first CEO, Peter Rawlinson, in February 2025, after Lucid launched its second vehicle, Gravity, a midsize SUV. He’s guided the company through the production ramp up for that vehicle as well as the shift toward autonomous driving.

“The past year has been an important period of progress for Lucid, and I’m proud of the work the team has done to strengthen our operations and execution,” said Winterhoff. “We have laid out a clear vision and enhanced strategy, and I look forward to continuing that work alongside Silvio.”

In addition to the leadership change, the company announced it was receiving more than $1 billion new investments: $550 million from Ayar Third Investment Co.’s purchase of convertible preferred stock. Ayar is part of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, currently Lucid’s largest shareholder.

Additionally, Uber is increasing its investment in Lucid to $500 million. As part of that move, Uber agreed to increase its purchase commitment of Lucid vehicles to 35,000 units, including Gravity SUVs and the upcoming midsize offering, which is expected to be under $50,000. The partnership between Lucid and Uber also includes autonomous vehicle technology developer Nuro.

The luxury EV maker also revealed it expanding its credit line to $2.5 billion, buttressed by a public offering expected to secure approximately $300 million.

[Images: Lucid Motors]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#LucidMotorsCEO #LucidpicksCEO #LucidCEOSilvioNapoli #ElectricVehicles #Lucidnews

Michael Strong

Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.

More by Michael Strong

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 9 comments

Stellantis Guy on Apr 15, 2026

I am taking a bath so far on my LCID shares.

Like Reply
Redapple2 on Apr 16, 2026

Former Schindler Elevator exec. A BEV luxury car maker. Ok. What do I know..

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Vid169489471 The technology exists today to produce a variable color temperature (kelvin) LED lamp. It can vary from 2700k that soft orange look to 6500k the bright daylight with the bluish tint.Since everything in a late model car is computer controlled, it would be an easy task to write a few lines of code that enables your vehicle to not only dim down from hi to low beam but to shift color temp down to the 2700k range for oncoming traffic, then back up to 5000k once oncoming traffic has passed. For the operator it would be automatic and seamless. For older cars they could be retrofitted with LEDs that are 2700k on low beam and 5000k on hi beam. As far as standards, there could be a lumens max, and a minimum. Several States already have minimum lumen standards going back to the old incandescent bulbs. Why not update these to national standards.
Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars
Master Baiter This is what happens when you take a chance on a startup auto company. Designing and building cars is hard.